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  • in reply to: Who pays for Common Property water leak damage? #37628
    Amazed
    Flatchatter
    Chat-starter

      I see what you mean Jimmy – T and I see what you mean.

      Unfortunately, or fortunately (depending how you look at it), our water damage didn’t appear to come from a burst pipe although we can’t be sure, because the Strata Manager never looked into it any further, other than to say to our Rental Managing Agent “if its not dripping its not the OC`s problem” and that we, the Lot Owner, is responsible to pay for any investigation and water damage repairs to our Lot coming from this Common Property wall.

      What makes this matter  a real concern is that our entire Lot is located directly under a huge Tiled  Terrace and a number of huge Garden Beds from the Lot above and there appears to be no logical plan in place to replace an ageing waterproof membrane that on this Terrace and in these Garden Boxes, which is now 15 years old and getting to the end of its lifecycle.

      Therefore, we suspect the waterproofing memebrane may be the cause of a number of recent water leaks in the building and we are extremely concerned as to the possible damage this is likely to cause to our Lot and it`s rentability in the future.

      in reply to: Who pays for Common Property water leak damage? #37599
      Amazed
      Flatchatter
      Chat-starter

        Thanks Jimmy – T.

        I really appreciate your input and I haven’t given up yet and will pursue this matter

        I just came accross this interesting acticle published by JS MUELLER & CO LAWERS FORUM 31.07.18 Which states in part;

        The law changed on 30 November 2016 when the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 finally commenced operation. The new Act introduced a new section 106 which provides to the effect that a lot owner can now recover damages from an owners corporation for losses suffered by the lot owner caused by the owners corporation’s breach of section 106.

        The relevant parts of section 106 in the new Act are:

        106 Duty of owners corporation to maintain and repair property

        (1) An owners corporation for a strata scheme must properly maintain and keep in a state of good and serviceable repair the common property and any personal property vested in the owners corporation.

        (2) An owners corporation must renew or replace any fixtures or fittings comprised in the common property and any personal property vested in the owners corporation.

        (5) An owner of a lot in a strata scheme may recover from the owners corporation, as damages for breach of statutory duty, any reasonably foreseeable loss suffered by the owner as a result of a contravention of this section by the owners corporation.

        (6) An owner may not bring an action under this section for breach of a statutory duty more than 2 years after the owner first becomes aware of the loss.

        Section 106(1) and (2) simply re-state the law that was set out in section 62(1) and (2) of the old Act. Section 106(5) and (6) are new law.

        Section 106(5) creates the new cause of action (or right to recover damages) for breach of the statutory duty in section 106.

        From my understanding of the above changes in this new legislation, I may be able to recover my cost for repairs for the water damage caused to my Lot by the failure to properly maintain Common Property through NCAT by way of an Order made against the Owners Corporation.

        Do you or other Forum members have any thoughts or recommendation on this?

         

        in reply to: Who pays for Common Property water leak damage? #37503
        Amazed
        Flatchatter
        Chat-starter

          Just a quick update on the matter of Common Property Water Damage above.

          Our Strata Manager, who currently is the Team Leader in a high profile strata company in Sydney, just sent us the following response:-

          “Our previous advise is correct, regardless of what the insurer has advised.  I have attached the DFT Who is responsible guide, if you go to point 13 on page 7  it will explain were the owners corporation are responsible for paint, and with that, the owners corporation would be responsible if we had to chop out a wall to get to a burst pipe etc,  however I the paint is damaged purely from the problem of the water, then it is not the stratas responsibility. Paint has always been considered to be within the airspace of the lot, making it the owners responsibilty.”

          Your thoughts on this would be much appreciated.  Many thanks!

          in reply to: Who pays for Common Property water leak damage? #37426
          Amazed
          Flatchatter
          Chat-starter

            Thank you Sir Humphrey, unfortunately we are located in NSW and not ACT where Legislation sounds a lot more clear than NSW.

            However, we have since sent a letter to our Strata Manager similar to that which Jimmy-T suggested and I will keep you updated once we recieve a response.

            Many thanks for all your input, it is much appreciated!

            in reply to: Who pays for Common Property water leak damage? #37278
            Amazed
            Flatchatter
            Chat-starter

              Just a quick update on the above issue.

              Just had a very interesting telephone conversation with our Owners Corporation Insurer.  The Insurer said they would have agreed to pay for the cost to repair the damage to our Lot caused by the Common Property leak, except that the repair cost to our Lot is less than the $1,000 Excess on the Policy and the Insurer is therefore unable to accept or process a claim less than this Excess amount.

              So, back to square 1, who pays for any excess or claim in this instance and where do I go to from here?

              Many thanks!

              in reply to: Who pays for Common Property water leak damage? #37098
              Amazed
              Flatchatter
              Chat-starter

                Many thanks for that.  Will do and will let you know how I go!

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